Number 10

North Carolina Portrait of a Graduate Revealed

"An initiative led by the N.C Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to define the skills and mindsets students need for success after high school has been unfolding since March. Now, with the help of 1,200 North Carolinians across the state, this grassroots-informed Portrait of a Graduate has been finalized.

Revealed today, the result of that effort – known as the Portrait of a Graduate – aims to ensure that North Carolina students are well equipped for the broadest range of postsecondary opportunities. Aligning with State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Catherine Truitt’s 2022 focus on the “Year of the Workforce,” the Portrait can be adopted by schools and districts to better prepare the state’s 1.5 million students for civic life, career or college."

Read the full press release here. The Portrait of a Graduate toolkit can be found in both Spanish and English here.

Number 9

Nominate High School Seniors for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program

Since 1964 the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program has recognized and honored over 8,000 outstanding high school seniors, and thereby encouraged high attainment among all students. In 2022, North Carolina was honored to have three students recognized as U.S. Presidential Scholars.

Each PSUs may nominate up to three students*, for the General Education category and the Career and Technical Education (CTE) category. From these PSU nominations, NCDPI will select and submit ten male and ten female candidates in the General Education category and five candidates for the CTE category. Nominations are due to NCDPI on or before November 4, 2022.

Learn more and find applications here.

If you have any questions, contact:

• For overall needs, contact Sneha.ShahColtrane@dpi.nc.gov
• For the General Education Program, contact Crissy.Brown@dpi.nc.gov
• For the CTE Program, contact Angela.LeMay@dpi.nc.gov

Number 8

District Highlight: Lincoln County Schools - Crop of New Lincoln County Teachers Returned Home to Impact the Next Generation

"You never know where your dreams might lead. Sometimes they might bring you full circle. A crop of new teachers in Lincoln County never forgot where they came from; they’ve come home to pay it forward by showing students how much they care. The school district has 16 first-year instructors who grew up in the county and returned in 2022 to make an impact.

'Look at you paying attention!' Destiny Johnson told her East Lincoln Middle students. The former Lincoln County student realized her “destiny.” She’s a sixth-grade teacher and credits the teachers who gave her an appreciation for the profession.

'They made me feel like I belonged,' Johnson said. 'And the power that they had, now that I have relationships with them… I was like, "If I could make someone feel how I felt—how they made me feel—what better job than to do that every day?"'"

Read the full story here. It is so exciting to see students return to their home to become educators and make a difference in the lives of their own students!

Number 7

SBE Approves New Career and College Promise Policy

The State Board of Education (SBE) approved a new policy (CACP-000) aimed at improving opportunities for high school students to enroll and succeed in NC’s Career and College Promise (CCP) program. All school districts in the state will be required to develop partnership agreements with their community college partners by December 2023. Partnership agreements will include:

• Establishment of partnership protocols
• Integration of district and college program offerings
• Plan of communication to students and families to broaden access
• Student academic support systems, including advising and sharing student progress
• Responsibilities of school/district and college personnel
• Responsibilities for program expenses
• Responsibilities of site operations

NCDPI will be providing resources and support to support the development of these agreements over the course of the next year through CCP Coordinators.

Contact Sneha.ShahColtrane@dpi.nc.gov for questions.

Number 6

Survey on NC’s School Performance Grades Draws Strong Response, Call for Change

"A recent statewide survey about how North Carolina public school performance is graded drew more than 26,000 participants, most of whom said that the current A-F grading system needs to be revised to give more weight to student growth and to include more non-academic criteria.

The online survey, conducted during the last two weeks by the education news website EdNC, found that among those who responded to a question about expanding the scope of the current school grading model, 90% favor a grading approach that includes measures beyond test scores and student growth and that 87% agree that different measures of success should be applied to elementary, middle and high schools."

Read the full press release here.

Number 5

State Awards $30M for Clean School Bus Replacements, Including 43 New Electric School Buses

"More than $30.1 million from the N.C. Volkswagen Settlement Program will be distributed by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to fund 161 new school buses across the state, with the majority of the funding going toward new all-electric school buses.

The new zero-emission and low-emission school buses are replacing some of the dirtiest diesel buses in the state, including some older than 30 years that emit more than 20 times the nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter of today’s clean buses."

Read the full press release here.

Number 4

Free Event for Educators: Marbles IMAX Educator Preview

Join Marbles IMAX for free dinner, drinks and a preview of their newest IMAX 3D documentary, Serengeti. This event also includes:

• A preview of a Marbles IMAX Learning Lab for grades 4-8
• A short talk by Steve Gerkin, Interpretive Programs Manager, from the North Carolina Zoo
• A chance to meet up and socialize with other educators

As a part of the Marbles IMAX Educator program, educators receive free admission to documentaries on Marbles field trips and all year long!

Register for the IMAX Educators Preview event and apply for the school year pass here.

Number 3

Video Message on School Nutrition from Superintendent Truitt

Superintendent Truitt shares a message highlighting the benefits of farm to school, celebrating #F2SMonth and more on school nutrition in North Carolina!

Watch the video here.

Number 2

State Superintendent Catherine Truitt unveils Portrait of a Graduate

"North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt unveiled Tuesday the 'Portrait of a Graduate' — seven competencies she hopes schools will incorporate into every aspect of learning.

The competencies, whittled down from 50 created by a group of 1,200 people from across the state, are the skills the group decided are most essential for students to learn.

'An accountability model really drives everything a school does. So, in another words, what gets measured gets done,' Truitt said yesterday, adding later: 'We really set about to frame a collective reflection of what skills a students needs to have, no matter what they’re going to do when they graduate from high school.'"

Read the full story from EdNC here.

Number 1

Video: Statewide Portrait of a Graduate

NCDPI is excited to share the statewide Portrait of a Graduate!

The Portrait ensures that North Carolina students are well equipped for the broadest range of postsecondary opportunities, be it college, career, or military.

Watch state leaders reflect on what the North Carolina Portrait of a Graduate will mean for North Carolina's education and business communities and gain a better understanding of the Portrait here.